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Commissario Brunetti #2
Muerte en un país extraño
El comisario Brunetti investiga la aparición del cadáver de un súbito americano en un canal veneciano. Resistiendo a presiones superiores debidas a razones políticas, Brunetti llega a relacionar esta muerte con una trama controlada por el gobierno italiano, el ejército americano y la Mafia.
286 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
3103 people are currently reading
4710 people want to read
About the author
Donna Leon
106 books2,919 followersDonna Leon (born September 29, 1942, in Montclair, New Jersey) is an American author of a series of crime novels set in Venice and featuring the fictional hero Commissario Guido Brunetti.
Donna Leon has lived in Venice for over twenty-five years. She has worked as a lecturer in English Literature for the University of Maryland University College - Europe (UMUC-Europe) in Italy, then as a Professor from 1981 to 1999 at the american military base of Vicenza (Italy) and a writer.
Her crime novels are all situated in or near Venice. They are written in English and translated into many foreign languages, although not, by her request, into Italian. Her ninth Brunetti novel, Friends in High Places, won the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger in 2000.
Series:
* Commissario Brunetti
Donna Leon has lived in Venice for over twenty-five years. She has worked as a lecturer in English Literature for the University of Maryland University College - Europe (UMUC-Europe) in Italy, then as a Professor from 1981 to 1999 at the american military base of Vicenza (Italy) and a writer.
Her crime novels are all situated in or near Venice. They are written in English and translated into many foreign languages, although not, by her request, into Italian. Her ninth Brunetti novel, Friends in High Places, won the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger in 2000.
Series:
* Commissario Brunetti
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,396 reviews
August 17, 2024
Pleasant.
Can a mystery be pleasant?
Yes, if it’s about Commissario Brunetti. I like the way the book puts you into the story.
The slow pacing is part of the pleasure that I get reading about the strolls through the neighborhood and the discussion of the people who live in Venice.
Another great book about Brunetti.
Five stars. ✨✨✨✨✨
Can a mystery be pleasant?
Yes, if it’s about Commissario Brunetti. I like the way the book puts you into the story.
The slow pacing is part of the pleasure that I get reading about the strolls through the neighborhood and the discussion of the people who live in Venice.
Another great book about Brunetti.
Five stars. ✨✨✨✨✨
March 13, 2015
Death in a Strange Country is a fairly weak mystery that is tied up in a totally unsatisfactory way. However, I love the daily life of Commissario Brunetti. I would read a week in the life of Brunetti if all he did was walk around Venice and eat. While I couldn't care less about the mystery in this book (though ), I care very deeply about Brunetti's dinner plans. Here are some great things included in this installment:
- Paola cooking risotto con zucca and veal. I have never been hungrier while reading
- A midnight meeting with an art thief that takes place alongside the wall of the Arsenale
- Dining and gambling at the Casino ("non nobis!"), where Brunetti wins some serious lire
- Detailed accounts of drinking at 10 AM, sometimes with international businessmen
- Endless shade thrown at Sicilians
- The vast difference between the American military base on Vicenza (little America!) and Italy outside
Donna Leon also brings some thoughtful discussion to this book around environmentalism and government corruption. Her characters are political ones, but I never feel like they're an explicit mouthpiece for the author. I appreciate this aspect of the Brunetti series; it adds nuance to the characters and the situations they experience. As Count Falier tells Brunetti, only the naive are interested in the greater good - but he considers it his greatest accomplishment as a parent that Paola, Brunetti's wife, is one of those people.
- Paola cooking risotto con zucca and veal. I have never been hungrier while reading
- A midnight meeting with an art thief that takes place alongside the wall of the Arsenale
- Dining and gambling at the Casino ("non nobis!"), where Brunetti wins some serious lire
- Detailed accounts of drinking at 10 AM, sometimes with international businessmen
- Endless shade thrown at Sicilians
- The vast difference between the American military base on Vicenza (little America!) and Italy outside
‘I wonder why it is, that they always smile so much.’ He had noticed the same thing, each time he was in America.
She turned away from the risotto and stared at him. ‘Why shouldn’t they smile, Guido? Think about it. They’re the richest people in the world. Everyone has to defer to them in politics, and they have convinced themselves, somehow, that everything they have ever done in their very brief history has been done for no purpose other than to further the general good of mankind. Why shouldn’t they smile?’
Donna Leon also brings some thoughtful discussion to this book around environmentalism and government corruption. Her characters are political ones, but I never feel like they're an explicit mouthpiece for the author. I appreciate this aspect of the Brunetti series; it adds nuance to the characters and the situations they experience. As Count Falier tells Brunetti, only the naive are interested in the greater good - but he considers it his greatest accomplishment as a parent that Paola, Brunetti's wife, is one of those people.
January 16, 2016
3,5 stars
"Death in a Strange Country, is the second book in Donna Leon’s Guido Brunetti Series.
When the body of Sgt. Michael Foster, a public health inspector at the American base in Vicenza, is pulled up from a canal in Venice, it looks like a mugging gone wrong. But Brunetti is convinced that there’s something more than just an American being a victim of a robbery.
When he travels to the American base in Vicenza to obtain more information about Forster, he’s suddenly told by his inept and blustering boss, Vice-Quetore Patta that the case has been closed as a mugging gone wrong.
As more bodies turn up dead, Brunetti is determined to get to the bottom of what looks like a huge conspiracy linking the Mafia and the US and Italian governments in a cover-up of illegal toxic waste dumping. He’s unable to come to terms with the fact that the government could be involved in something so dangerous….
When Brunetti is pulled off the case, the more resolute he becomes in solving the mystery. Even if it means doing it behind his boss’s back.
"Death in a Strange Country, is the second book in Donna Leon’s Guido Brunetti Series.
When the body of Sgt. Michael Foster, a public health inspector at the American base in Vicenza, is pulled up from a canal in Venice, it looks like a mugging gone wrong. But Brunetti is convinced that there’s something more than just an American being a victim of a robbery.
When he travels to the American base in Vicenza to obtain more information about Forster, he’s suddenly told by his inept and blustering boss, Vice-Quetore Patta that the case has been closed as a mugging gone wrong.
As more bodies turn up dead, Brunetti is determined to get to the bottom of what looks like a huge conspiracy linking the Mafia and the US and Italian governments in a cover-up of illegal toxic waste dumping. He’s unable to come to terms with the fact that the government could be involved in something so dangerous….
When Brunetti is pulled off the case, the more resolute he becomes in solving the mystery. Even if it means doing it behind his boss’s back.
‘“He looked down at the glass again. ‘I care that these things happen, that we poison ourselves and our progeny, that we knowingly destroy our future, but I do not believe that there is anything - and I repeat, anything - that can be done to prevent it. We are a nation of egoists. It is our glory, but it will be our destruction, for none of us can be made to concern ourselves about something as abstract as “the common good”. The best of us can rise to feeling concern for our families, but as a nation we are incapable of more.’We continue to see more of Brunetti’s family life and I enjoy the warmth and connection that he has with his wife…
‘I refuse to believe that.’ Brunetti said.
‘Your refusal to believe it,’ the Count said with a smile that was almost tender, ‘makes it no less true, Guido.”– Poala’s father’s answer to Brunetti’s question about the corruption and ineptitude of their government.
Then I discovered girls, and I forgot all about being angry or lost, or whatever I was. I just wanted them to like me. That’s the only thing that was important to me.’We get to see how much he loves his city. The beauty that surrounds him….
‘Were there a lot of them?’ she asked.
He shrugged.
‘And did they like you?’ He grinned.
‘Oh, go away, Guido, and find yourself something to do. Watch television.’
‘I hate television.’
‘Then help me do the dishes.’
‘I love television.’
The resolution in the end is one that Brunetti was happy about but understandable – where corruption is involved in governments without morals, it’s something one comes to expect.
September 25, 2016
Reading this #2 in the series when I have already read 20 other Guido Brunetti- it was hard to star it. I was perplexed between 3 and 4 stars. It's 3.5 stars, to be fair.
The problem is this, for me. Brunetti #2 holds more background information and conversations between characters I've already learned to know in far greater nuance. Informative as that was, it often was too formal in an exposure style to the well-known Brunetti kin and relatives, those especially. And often lacked the sublime dichotomy of wit in his answers to authority (Patta and his cronies) that becomes superlative of degree later on in the series.
But I have to add. Donna Leon has accomplished personality progression and relationship depth as she has built upon and built upon over all these novels. Because here Guido is not as maturely kind nor does he hold the depths to FULL knowledge of the "unfair" as he seems to hold later in the series. The full sympathetico that he owns and uses so well in the last ten books, for instance. One of his best qualities is strength in the knowledge of how high the levels of corruption and inequality to result actually are in his Italian sphere.
Here his chore within investigating Foster's murder when he encounters Dr. Peters! You see the budding skills of Guido's inquiry but NOT with abrupt, cold questioning and accusation to inference. Instead you see the beginnings of how he investigates too by what he "doesn't" accuse. And moreover by what his eyes tell him is so.
This mystery had a diffuse and non-completed to usual police case for duo murder ending, IMHO. There really was not justice in any civilized or lawful dictation method. So it does truly set the stage for so much of the reality of "case closed" in the future Venetian fall-outs to crime.
This one also gets preachy, condescending, and at times "side-issue" non-cohesive. But that's this genre and especially this locale reality. And of course, Paola is no small factor there either. The Count is portrayed within his real power to influence here too, considerable but not in any way over-riding to the whole piece of his society. He definitely is fearing certain names in association, as well. But his fear's reaction is also completely different, IMHO. He associates and keeps the enemies close. Very Machiavellian.
My favorites of the series are much later, but returning to these was still an excellent exercise. Donna Leon can slowly open a can of worms and let you think you are eating delicious clams. So lastly, the food! Some good meals here, especially the zucca risotto- but all that dissing the American forms of food and lodging choices offset my enjoyment of it.
This one was much sadder than most of the Brunetti. Sadder even within the home family itself. It seems he didn't even want to walk the 4 sets of stairs to the flat, at times. And I DID note a real crunch of fleeting reserve in the parental. Guido is NOT as amazed and joyful at the maturing of the kids as Paola seems to be. So Raffi has a girlfriend? And his little girl is 13! Guido seems to feel the fleeting passage of the small years in a very melancholy miasma. I recognize it.
OH I ALMOST FORGOT! I liked the casino experience and the comparisons to Las Vegas and gambling styles. That was a 4.5 star. And was incredibly glad that Guido's 28 came up and he can buy the computer and that new Raffi suit. And maybe even go to the mountains in January to ski.
The problem is this, for me. Brunetti #2 holds more background information and conversations between characters I've already learned to know in far greater nuance. Informative as that was, it often was too formal in an exposure style to the well-known Brunetti kin and relatives, those especially. And often lacked the sublime dichotomy of wit in his answers to authority (Patta and his cronies) that becomes superlative of degree later on in the series.
But I have to add. Donna Leon has accomplished personality progression and relationship depth as she has built upon and built upon over all these novels. Because here Guido is not as maturely kind nor does he hold the depths to FULL knowledge of the "unfair" as he seems to hold later in the series. The full sympathetico that he owns and uses so well in the last ten books, for instance. One of his best qualities is strength in the knowledge of how high the levels of corruption and inequality to result actually are in his Italian sphere.
Here his chore within investigating Foster's murder when he encounters Dr. Peters! You see the budding skills of Guido's inquiry but NOT with abrupt, cold questioning and accusation to inference. Instead you see the beginnings of how he investigates too by what he "doesn't" accuse. And moreover by what his eyes tell him is so.
This mystery had a diffuse and non-completed to usual police case for duo murder ending, IMHO. There really was not justice in any civilized or lawful dictation method. So it does truly set the stage for so much of the reality of "case closed" in the future Venetian fall-outs to crime.
This one also gets preachy, condescending, and at times "side-issue" non-cohesive. But that's this genre and especially this locale reality. And of course, Paola is no small factor there either. The Count is portrayed within his real power to influence here too, considerable but not in any way over-riding to the whole piece of his society. He definitely is fearing certain names in association, as well. But his fear's reaction is also completely different, IMHO. He associates and keeps the enemies close. Very Machiavellian.
My favorites of the series are much later, but returning to these was still an excellent exercise. Donna Leon can slowly open a can of worms and let you think you are eating delicious clams. So lastly, the food! Some good meals here, especially the zucca risotto- but all that dissing the American forms of food and lodging choices offset my enjoyment of it.
This one was much sadder than most of the Brunetti. Sadder even within the home family itself. It seems he didn't even want to walk the 4 sets of stairs to the flat, at times. And I DID note a real crunch of fleeting reserve in the parental. Guido is NOT as amazed and joyful at the maturing of the kids as Paola seems to be. So Raffi has a girlfriend? And his little girl is 13! Guido seems to feel the fleeting passage of the small years in a very melancholy miasma. I recognize it.
OH I ALMOST FORGOT! I liked the casino experience and the comparisons to Las Vegas and gambling styles. That was a 4.5 star. And was incredibly glad that Guido's 28 came up and he can buy the computer and that new Raffi suit. And maybe even go to the mountains in January to ski.
July 9, 2018
The second of the long-running Brunetti series and here we see Leon introducing a more politicised element to her emotive story-telling: issues of the American army in Europe, of toxic waste and high-level cover-ups merge with more domestic scenes in Venice. Especially potent are the portraits of a Sicilian mother and her petty criminal son; and the ambiguous activities of Brunetti’s own father-in-law.
Offsetting the darker elements are scenes of comedy in Brunetti’s ongoing feud with Patta, his boss; and the wonderful warmth of his family life. Nuanced and atmospheric, this is crime writing lit up with wit, intelligence, subtlety and humanity.
Offsetting the darker elements are scenes of comedy in Brunetti’s ongoing feud with Patta, his boss; and the wonderful warmth of his family life. Nuanced and atmospheric, this is crime writing lit up with wit, intelligence, subtlety and humanity.
February 15, 2023
I'm really enjoying the Commissario Brunetti series. This book pulls together cultural differences between Italians and Americans; and the intricate relationships Brunetti has with his superior, his family, and his father-in-law, Count Orazio Falier. The environmental issues do not portray either Italy, Germany, or America in a good light. Venice is a supporting character and beautifully described.
January 23, 2023
Одна из самых итальянских книжек, когда-либо мною читанных. Очень сильная атмосфера не просто города, а самой Италии, и итальянцы на страницах — все как живые, от укутанной в черное грузной синьоры, некогда первой красавицы Сицилии, до ушлых чиновников и детей с прекрасным аппетитом.
September 22, 2019
When a death in Venice is no longer the subject of a literary work, but of a murder investigation, Commissario Brunetti's problems begin to mount. The unidentified corpse fished from the canal is not Italian. Bad. The deceased turns out to have been an American. Worse! The American was a member of the U.S. Military. Could things possibly get worse? Absolutely!
It says something about efficiency that Brunetti is pulled from a sound sleep two and a half hours before his shift begins. The dispatcher deflects Brunetti's ire by pointing out no one else is around. Everyone from the night shift has already gone home. Brunetti's second jolt of the morning comes from his superior, Vice-Questore Patta, who confronts him the moment Patta gets in — 11:00 AM. His near-hysteria reminded me of the mayor in “Jaws.” “'We can't have Americans being murdered in this city, not with the state of tourism this year. Do you understand that.?' Brunetti fought back the impulse to ask if it would be all right to kill people of other nationalities — Albanians, perhaps? — but, instead, said only 'Yes, sir.'” (p.25) In most cases, Brunetti is able to get on with his work by deflecting his clueless martinet of a boss with equivocal witticisms. In this case this will prove challenging.
This book was published in 1993 and opens a window into Italian politics of the time. The mafia and the government were so closely intertwined they were practically interchangeable, as reflected in this passage: [Brunetti] ��� 'mafia....Even up here?' [Ambrogiani]: 'Why not? They've got to go somewhere. All they do is kill one another down South. How many murders have there been so far this year? Two hundred? Two hundred and fifty? So they've started moving up here.' [Brunetti]: 'The government?' Ambrogiani gave the special snort of disgust that Italians reserve for use only when speaking of their government. 'Who can tell them apart anymore, mafia and government?'” (p.275)
Tensions with the Americans are also evident. The deceased's base was in nearby Vicenza, a military complex run like a “Little America.” There, Brunetti is met with cordial smiles and vague, seemingly innocuous lies.
Brunetti's wife Paolo is more of a presence than in many of the later books. Here, she seems to be the woman who can do it all. She is mother to their two children, teaches literature at the nearby university, keeps abreast of politics and social justice, and deals with Brunetti's unpredictable schedule with aplomb. No reader could hate her, however. Her effortlessly produced dinners are to die for: risotto, wedges of golden polenta, shank of veal roasted with olives and white wine. She is also a crucial link in the story. Her father is Count Orazio, shrewd, discreet and pragmatic. He inhabits a different world, one that Brunetti finds will connect with his case.
I love Donna Leon's mysteries. Moral dilemmas, social problems and engaging characters come alive with her animated prose and inventive dialogues.
NOTES:
Italy, 1993: https://ilglobo.com.au/news/34214/199...
Italy, 1992: http://theconversation.com/looking-ba...
Military bases in Italy https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...
It says something about efficiency that Brunetti is pulled from a sound sleep two and a half hours before his shift begins. The dispatcher deflects Brunetti's ire by pointing out no one else is around. Everyone from the night shift has already gone home. Brunetti's second jolt of the morning comes from his superior, Vice-Questore Patta, who confronts him the moment Patta gets in — 11:00 AM. His near-hysteria reminded me of the mayor in “Jaws.” “'We can't have Americans being murdered in this city, not with the state of tourism this year. Do you understand that.?' Brunetti fought back the impulse to ask if it would be all right to kill people of other nationalities — Albanians, perhaps? — but, instead, said only 'Yes, sir.'” (p.25) In most cases, Brunetti is able to get on with his work by deflecting his clueless martinet of a boss with equivocal witticisms. In this case this will prove challenging.
This book was published in 1993 and opens a window into Italian politics of the time. The mafia and the government were so closely intertwined they were practically interchangeable, as reflected in this passage: [Brunetti] ��� 'mafia....Even up here?' [Ambrogiani]: 'Why not? They've got to go somewhere. All they do is kill one another down South. How many murders have there been so far this year? Two hundred? Two hundred and fifty? So they've started moving up here.' [Brunetti]: 'The government?' Ambrogiani gave the special snort of disgust that Italians reserve for use only when speaking of their government. 'Who can tell them apart anymore, mafia and government?'” (p.275)
Tensions with the Americans are also evident. The deceased's base was in nearby Vicenza, a military complex run like a “Little America.” There, Brunetti is met with cordial smiles and vague, seemingly innocuous lies.
Brunetti's wife Paolo is more of a presence than in many of the later books. Here, she seems to be the woman who can do it all. She is mother to their two children, teaches literature at the nearby university, keeps abreast of politics and social justice, and deals with Brunetti's unpredictable schedule with aplomb. No reader could hate her, however. Her effortlessly produced dinners are to die for: risotto, wedges of golden polenta, shank of veal roasted with olives and white wine. She is also a crucial link in the story. Her father is Count Orazio, shrewd, discreet and pragmatic. He inhabits a different world, one that Brunetti finds will connect with his case.
I love Donna Leon's mysteries. Moral dilemmas, social problems and engaging characters come alive with her animated prose and inventive dialogues.
NOTES:
Italy, 1993: https://ilglobo.com.au/news/34214/199...
Italy, 1992: http://theconversation.com/looking-ba...
Military bases in Italy https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...
June 23, 2020
Book 2 and I am loving this series set in Venice. Very good plot and characters you quickly get to know and enjoy. Here we have a murder of a US Armed Forces soldier in Venice, and who is stationed in Vincenza which is over an hour away. Brunetti is called upon to investigate this crime and along the way another person dies on the base in Vicenza. We also have some other crimes involving the mugging of an important businessman from Milan who was staying at his Venice apartment, and we have the theft of valuable paintings. Really well done, having visited Venice and Italy on numerous occasions the description of the city, the politics, graft, etc. are spot on. And the ending leaves you, as Brunetti feeling that justice has been served! Only 27 more books to go in this series!!!
Read
March 25, 2018I read the first one of these because Ursula Le Guin recommended them (in Words Are My Matter) and I mildly liked it, and therefore I kept this one around for a long time without starting it. Mistake. This, is utterly brilliant. It's a book about Venice and integrity. Read it now. You don't need to read the first one first, this would work perfectly well as a standalone.
October 13, 2024
A body is fished out of a canal in Venice. It seems a mugging, but Brunetti keeps poking around until he finds a high level conspiracy, that hits a bit too close to home.
Very much of its time.
Very much of its time.
March 22, 2025
This is my second novel by Leon, and it was her second on the Commisario Brunetti series.
I am finding these novels are excellent when traveling and as breaks between readings of history or more engaged literature.
The plot in this one is ambitious. We are not faced with just a “Whodunit?” but with a wider and more complex crime network that involves nations, secret service and the health of our planet. This is a dangerous area for a thriller, since it can easily degenerate into conspiratorial and populist theories. But Leon manages to pull it through convincingly.
What was less convincing were two elements. One is that if Brunetti’s boss, Vice-Questore Patta, is such a snob, that he would not pay more attention to the way he treats Brunetti given that the Commisario’s father-in-law, Count Orazio-Falier, is such a big fish in Venice (and by extension, the rest of Italy). And the second is that it ought not to surprise to the police that a victim of theft would remember well the paintings that had been stolen (of the calibre of Monet, Guardi and Gauguin) but not the face of the thief.
Anyway, highly entertaining and suitable for reading in certain circumstances. And then, it is always such a pleasure to read about Venice, its water, its light, and its winding calli.
November 14, 2023
If you ask me, those four stars are not full ones, as I find the final quite ordinary or even pathetic.
But until the final pages I've read an old-school book written by someone with eyes wide open...
But until the final pages I've read an old-school book written by someone with eyes wide open...
April 25, 2021
I really enjoyed this book, where Brunetti is extremely cynical about the unique circumstances of Italian politics and rightly so. I like the way he responds to his boss Patta and the particular attitudes of being a native Venetian. As with the first one, I found the writing excellent and hard to put down once started. Such a long series- oh joy!!!
November 15, 2022
The body floated face down in the murky water of the canal.
This is the opening sentence. There is no waiting around for character development to get to a murder. A few pages or a chapter are spent to learn the identity of this body. ‘I hope you find out who he is so you can send him home. It’s no good thing, to die in a strange country.’ Yes, the source of the title comes early.
I'm reading this series out of order. It is interesting to "go back in time" and see this second in the series. I do think the children age as the series continues, and Brunetti acquires a regular assistant later who, in this, is just a very good policeman. It is easy to see how the relationship will develop. Brunetti is his same self. He tends to question what others think is obvious, or what he is told by Vice-Questura Patta is the truth. Patta, after all, comes from Sicily and has been conditioned to know that the Mafia and highly placed government officials actually run Italy.
There was the usual very enticing Italian food in this as in the others. Brunetti is also a family man. On the first day of investigating the crime, he not only failed to go home for lunch, but also failed to call Paola to tell her he wouldn't be home. ‘That’s all right. I spent it with William Faulkner. Very interesting man.’ Over the course of the years, they’d come to treat her lunchtime visitors as real guests, had evolved jokes about the table manners of Doctor Johnson (shocking), the conversation of Melville (scurrilous), and the amount Jane Austen drank (stunning).
Because I couldn't resist further highlighting, I must share. Later, Brunetti and Paola are dining with others. He gets home late and Paola is just getting out of the bath. To distract himself, he thought of physics, which he had studied at the university. He doubted that he would ever understand the dynamics and stress forces of female undergarments: so many things to hold, support, keep in place.
This is just offered to show there is more to this series than very good mysteries. Another 4-stars.
This is the opening sentence. There is no waiting around for character development to get to a murder. A few pages or a chapter are spent to learn the identity of this body. ‘I hope you find out who he is so you can send him home. It’s no good thing, to die in a strange country.’ Yes, the source of the title comes early.
I'm reading this series out of order. It is interesting to "go back in time" and see this second in the series. I do think the children age as the series continues, and Brunetti acquires a regular assistant later who, in this, is just a very good policeman. It is easy to see how the relationship will develop. Brunetti is his same self. He tends to question what others think is obvious, or what he is told by Vice-Questura Patta is the truth. Patta, after all, comes from Sicily and has been conditioned to know that the Mafia and highly placed government officials actually run Italy.
There was the usual very enticing Italian food in this as in the others. Brunetti is also a family man. On the first day of investigating the crime, he not only failed to go home for lunch, but also failed to call Paola to tell her he wouldn't be home. ‘That’s all right. I spent it with William Faulkner. Very interesting man.’ Over the course of the years, they’d come to treat her lunchtime visitors as real guests, had evolved jokes about the table manners of Doctor Johnson (shocking), the conversation of Melville (scurrilous), and the amount Jane Austen drank (stunning).
Because I couldn't resist further highlighting, I must share. Later, Brunetti and Paola are dining with others. He gets home late and Paola is just getting out of the bath. To distract himself, he thought of physics, which he had studied at the university. He doubted that he would ever understand the dynamics and stress forces of female undergarments: so many things to hold, support, keep in place.
This is just offered to show there is more to this series than very good mysteries. Another 4-stars.
February 25, 2018
I really like the protagonist in this series and I enjoy the Venetian setting, but this book was disappointing in that there was no resolution. It just ended and I was beginning to lose interest by that time anyway. Although I’m not American, I didn’t particularly care for the subtle anti-American sentiments in this story. The first book was far more enjoyable. I do plan on reading a few more in this series, since I have heard that they apparently take off after the fourth book. I’ll see.
January 1, 2010
Donna Leon's books quite simply inhabit Venice. Those of us who know it only superficially find it easy to recognise and by the end feel we understand the city and its customs and hidden corners a little better. If we have never dropped in at that little bar for a coffee and a brioche, we can be sure we will spot it next time and not pass by.
The crime, of course, is intriguing enough to keep the reader turning pages but the pleasure is the setting in which it is wrapped: the place and the people. Above all, the people. Commissario Brunetti has few rivals in detective fiction for the way in which his character emerges through myriad small details. The reader sees him at work and at home, with strengths and weaknesses in both, but they are indivisible halves of the same man. If one were the victim of a crime, one would be fortunate indeed to have Brunetti on the case.
The Commissario alone would guarantee Donna Leon's rightful place among the best of her peers, but there are other subtle virtues not to be overlooked. In passing, Death in a Strange Country airs thoughtful views on immigration, on corruption, and on polution of the planet. And all this with a beautifully understated sense of humour.
At one point, Paola Brunetti makes a risotto for her husband. "He took two forkfuls, sighed in appreciation, and continued to eat ... Paola saw that he had passed beyond the point of hunger and was eating for the pleasure of the act ..." Contemplating the long list of Donna Leon's other titles, one experiences a similar sensation.
The crime, of course, is intriguing enough to keep the reader turning pages but the pleasure is the setting in which it is wrapped: the place and the people. Above all, the people. Commissario Brunetti has few rivals in detective fiction for the way in which his character emerges through myriad small details. The reader sees him at work and at home, with strengths and weaknesses in both, but they are indivisible halves of the same man. If one were the victim of a crime, one would be fortunate indeed to have Brunetti on the case.
The Commissario alone would guarantee Donna Leon's rightful place among the best of her peers, but there are other subtle virtues not to be overlooked. In passing, Death in a Strange Country airs thoughtful views on immigration, on corruption, and on polution of the planet. And all this with a beautifully understated sense of humour.
At one point, Paola Brunetti makes a risotto for her husband. "He took two forkfuls, sighed in appreciation, and continued to eat ... Paola saw that he had passed beyond the point of hunger and was eating for the pleasure of the act ..." Contemplating the long list of Donna Leon's other titles, one experiences a similar sensation.
December 30, 2022
I truly enjoyed the daily meandering through Venice, the architecture, the food, daily life… but just didn’t care about the murder.
November 14, 2008
I continue to be an enormous fan of the Commisario Brunetti series. For those of you who may have missed my earlier reviews, Donna Leon teaches English for the University of Maryland Extension near Venice and has lived in Italy for many years. She portrays the flavor of Italian life vividly, and it's clear that while she must love living there, petty and not-so-petty corruption is rampant. She makes delightfully wicked little comments. For example, the Carabineri major, interviewed by Brunetti on an American army post - not base, that's for the Air Force - waxes on about the characteristics of Americans. They tend to be arrogant, of course, but Americans are really too insecure to be truly arrogant, "unlike the Germans." Classic.
Brunetti is walking home through "battalions of ravaging tourists who centered their attacks on the area around San Marcos. Each year it grew harder to have patience with them, to put up with their stop-and-go walking, with their insistence on walking three abreast through even the narrowest calles. There were times when he wanted to scream at them, even push them aside, but he contented himself by taking out all of his aggressions through the single expedient of refusing to stop, or in any way alter his course, in order to allow them a photo opportunity. Because of this, he was sure that his body, back and elbow appeared in hundreds of photos and videos. He sometimes contemplated the disappointed Germans looking at their summer videos during the violence of the North Sea storm as they watched a purposeful, dark-suited Italian walk in front of Tante Gerda or an Onkel Franz, blurring, if only for a moment the lederhosen-clad tourists" with what was probably the only real Italian they would see during their stay.
An American soldier, Sgt. Michael Foster, an American public health inspector at the American military hospital in Vicenza, has been found floating in one of the Venetian canals. In an act of true heroism, two policemen jump in the water - the water being so dirty, hence the heroism - and drag him out. Brunetti's superior would like nothing better than to have the case buried, because the idea of an American being killed in Venice would ruin the tourist trade. Brunetti purposefully manipulates his boss into thinking the murder might have been committed elsewhere - must think of tourism, of course - so he can be authorized to travel to the man's post and investigate. An army captain, Dr. Peters, a woman doctor, who had come to Venice to identify the body in the morgue, had vomited from what Brunetti thought was from fear, when she saw how the man had been killed, by a knife plunging directly through the ribs into the heart. He suspects something is rather odd about this case, especially when he finds some cocaine that was not well hidden in the dead soldier's apartment, apparently after it had been thoroughly searched by the military authorities. The case becomes more complicated as both he and the Carabinieri major are politely warned off the case after they discover a connection between the dead soldier, a sick boy, contracts for the disposal of toxic waste, Brunetti's father-in-law, and the ostensible suicide by heroin overdose of Dr. Peters, not to mention the theft of some famous paintings from a prominent businessman.
As with many of her other books, you are left at the end deeply saddened by the corruption, the illicit use of power and its effect on Brunetti, who, despite all, struggles on trying to stay an honest cop. He is a wonderful character.
Brunetti is walking home through "battalions of ravaging tourists who centered their attacks on the area around San Marcos. Each year it grew harder to have patience with them, to put up with their stop-and-go walking, with their insistence on walking three abreast through even the narrowest calles. There were times when he wanted to scream at them, even push them aside, but he contented himself by taking out all of his aggressions through the single expedient of refusing to stop, or in any way alter his course, in order to allow them a photo opportunity. Because of this, he was sure that his body, back and elbow appeared in hundreds of photos and videos. He sometimes contemplated the disappointed Germans looking at their summer videos during the violence of the North Sea storm as they watched a purposeful, dark-suited Italian walk in front of Tante Gerda or an Onkel Franz, blurring, if only for a moment the lederhosen-clad tourists" with what was probably the only real Italian they would see during their stay.
An American soldier, Sgt. Michael Foster, an American public health inspector at the American military hospital in Vicenza, has been found floating in one of the Venetian canals. In an act of true heroism, two policemen jump in the water - the water being so dirty, hence the heroism - and drag him out. Brunetti's superior would like nothing better than to have the case buried, because the idea of an American being killed in Venice would ruin the tourist trade. Brunetti purposefully manipulates his boss into thinking the murder might have been committed elsewhere - must think of tourism, of course - so he can be authorized to travel to the man's post and investigate. An army captain, Dr. Peters, a woman doctor, who had come to Venice to identify the body in the morgue, had vomited from what Brunetti thought was from fear, when she saw how the man had been killed, by a knife plunging directly through the ribs into the heart. He suspects something is rather odd about this case, especially when he finds some cocaine that was not well hidden in the dead soldier's apartment, apparently after it had been thoroughly searched by the military authorities. The case becomes more complicated as both he and the Carabinieri major are politely warned off the case after they discover a connection between the dead soldier, a sick boy, contracts for the disposal of toxic waste, Brunetti's father-in-law, and the ostensible suicide by heroin overdose of Dr. Peters, not to mention the theft of some famous paintings from a prominent businessman.
As with many of her other books, you are left at the end deeply saddened by the corruption, the illicit use of power and its effect on Brunetti, who, despite all, struggles on trying to stay an honest cop. He is a wonderful character.
June 6, 2022
3,75 sterren - Nederlandse paperback
The story revolves around two murder mysteries and a robbery, all of which Brunetti is assigned to solve. A young man, probably an American, is found dead floating in the water of a Venice canal. He may, or may not, be the victim of a robbery. Later, a young American doctor at a U.S. Army base outside a town near Venice is found dead in her quarters, dead of a heroin overdose. Finally, the Venice palace of a Milano industrialist is burgled and its owner sent to the hospital from a beating. In all three cases, Brunetti smells a story that would rule out the obvious explanation. His investigation of all these mysteries is hemmed in by his boss, a feckless and lazy Sicilian with a fancy title who is interested only in pleasing the powers that be and taking credit for any discoveries made by defying his orders.
Second novel in the series and they are, to me, good. Do not expect a thriller but it is a good Police novel.
The story revolves around two murder mysteries and a robbery, all of which Brunetti is assigned to solve. A young man, probably an American, is found dead floating in the water of a Venice canal. He may, or may not, be the victim of a robbery. Later, a young American doctor at a U.S. Army base outside a town near Venice is found dead in her quarters, dead of a heroin overdose. Finally, the Venice palace of a Milano industrialist is burgled and its owner sent to the hospital from a beating. In all three cases, Brunetti smells a story that would rule out the obvious explanation. His investigation of all these mysteries is hemmed in by his boss, a feckless and lazy Sicilian with a fancy title who is interested only in pleasing the powers that be and taking credit for any discoveries made by defying his orders.
Second novel in the series and they are, to me, good. Do not expect a thriller but it is a good Police novel.
December 27, 2024
When the corpse of an American soldier is discovered in the canals of Venice, Commissario Brunetti is drawn into the strange world of a nearby military base.
Like the first book, here we have the same lovely depiction of Venice, both its beauty and its murkiness. The mystery is an engaging one, and the ending is melancholy. Leon does a good job of showing Brunetti's struggle to be a just man in a corrupt system, and the inevitability of what happens crashes over you like a wave.
Like the first book, here we have the same lovely depiction of Venice, both its beauty and its murkiness. The mystery is an engaging one, and the ending is melancholy. Leon does a good job of showing Brunetti's struggle to be a just man in a corrupt system, and the inevitability of what happens crashes over you like a wave.
October 3, 2021
An American in Venice
Review of the Grove Press paperback edition (2014) of the Harper Collins hardcover original (1993)
I am continuing to enjoy the Brunetti series, especially for the Venice atmosphere created by writer Donna Leon, who lived in the city for 30 years until retiring recently to a small village in Switzerland. Death in a Strange Country finds Brunetti investigating the death of an American serviceman whose body is found in the canals of Venice. Then a co-worker from the same Health & Safety unit at the American Army base dies as well, apparently as a suicide. Brunetti has to call in some extra help from his father-in-law Count Orazio Faller. Count Faller appears to have insider knowledge of not only the business world but also the criminal world of Italy, although his exact connections are kept vague, perhaps to be revealed further along in the series.
I enjoyed Death in a Strange Country for the different avenues of investigation followed by Brunetti and the continued views of his home life and his regular enjoyment of food and drink. The conclusion was not quite completely satisfactory as you are left with the impression that the discovered corruption will carry on regardless. But it is likely true to life.
Actor Uwe Kocklisch as Commissario Guido Brunetti standing in front of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy in a film still from the German television adaptation of "Death in a Strange Country" (2006). Image sourced from IMDB.
Trivia and Links
There is a really fascinating interview with author Donna Leon at ItalianMysteries.Com even if it was done 18 years ago. She discusses all sorts of background to the books and characters and also gives the reason that she won't allow the books to be translated into Italian (and it wasn't because she feared criticism by her neighbours in Venice).
Although it was the 2nd book, Death in a Strange Country was filmed as the 11th episode "Endstation Venedig" (Terminus Venice) (2006) of the German language TV series (2000-2019) based on the Donna Leon / Commissario Brunetti series. That entire episode (German language, no subtitles) is available on YouTube here.
An English language summary of the German language Commissario Brunetti TV series is available at Fictional Cities (Spoilers Obviously). As explained in the above interview, the TV-series was a German production as the books took off in popularity the most in the German speaking countries of Europe as Leon's publishing agent was Swiss-German and knew that market the best.
Review of the Grove Press paperback edition (2014) of the Harper Collins hardcover original (1993)
I am continuing to enjoy the Brunetti series, especially for the Venice atmosphere created by writer Donna Leon, who lived in the city for 30 years until retiring recently to a small village in Switzerland. Death in a Strange Country finds Brunetti investigating the death of an American serviceman whose body is found in the canals of Venice. Then a co-worker from the same Health & Safety unit at the American Army base dies as well, apparently as a suicide. Brunetti has to call in some extra help from his father-in-law Count Orazio Faller. Count Faller appears to have insider knowledge of not only the business world but also the criminal world of Italy, although his exact connections are kept vague, perhaps to be revealed further along in the series.
I enjoyed Death in a Strange Country for the different avenues of investigation followed by Brunetti and the continued views of his home life and his regular enjoyment of food and drink. The conclusion was not quite completely satisfactory as you are left with the impression that the discovered corruption will carry on regardless. But it is likely true to life.
Actor Uwe Kocklisch as Commissario Guido Brunetti standing in front of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy in a film still from the German television adaptation of "Death in a Strange Country" (2006). Image sourced from IMDB.
Trivia and Links
There is a really fascinating interview with author Donna Leon at ItalianMysteries.Com even if it was done 18 years ago. She discusses all sorts of background to the books and characters and also gives the reason that she won't allow the books to be translated into Italian (and it wasn't because she feared criticism by her neighbours in Venice).
Although it was the 2nd book, Death in a Strange Country was filmed as the 11th episode "Endstation Venedig" (Terminus Venice) (2006) of the German language TV series (2000-2019) based on the Donna Leon / Commissario Brunetti series. That entire episode (German language, no subtitles) is available on YouTube here.
An English language summary of the German language Commissario Brunetti TV series is available at Fictional Cities (Spoilers Obviously). As explained in the above interview, the TV-series was a German production as the books took off in popularity the most in the German speaking countries of Europe as Leon's publishing agent was Swiss-German and knew that market the best.
November 4, 2017
It is strangely comforting to read about corruption in Italy, in this annus horribilis 2017 in the USA.
And Leon's acidic description of Americans on the base in Vicenza is appropriate too, even though there are two Americans who do try to do the right thing, and another who is bamboozled by Americans in high places.
So many good characters in this one - Maggiore Ambrogiani, who helps Brunetti and pays for it. The marvelous Signora Concetta and her feckless, ever hopeful son Ruffolo. The arrogantly viscous Viscardi. But perhaps the most delightful part is that Brunetti and his father-in-law, Count Orazio Falier, finally talk honestly and the class barriers between them tumble.
The Count: 'I care that these things happen, that we poison ourselves and our progeny, that we knowingly destroy our future, but I do not believe that there is anything -- and I repeat, anything -- that can be done to prevent it. We are a nation of egoists. It is our glory, but it will be our destruction, for none of us can be made to concern ourselves about something as abstract as "the common good." The best of us can rise to feeling concern for our families, but as a nation, we are incapable of more.'
Of course Brunetti doesn't believe this, and neither does Paola, as Orazio acknowledges: "That is perhaps the finest thing I have achieved in my life, that my daughter does not share my beliefs."
Yet "Brunetti took his rage home with him, and it sat between him and his family as he ate." It is only satisfied by the rage of another, more powerful, it turns out, than the Count with his millions and his contacts in high places. But no spoilers...
And Leon's acidic description of Americans on the base in Vicenza is appropriate too, even though there are two Americans who do try to do the right thing, and another who is bamboozled by Americans in high places.
So many good characters in this one - Maggiore Ambrogiani, who helps Brunetti and pays for it. The marvelous Signora Concetta and her feckless, ever hopeful son Ruffolo. The arrogantly viscous Viscardi. But perhaps the most delightful part is that Brunetti and his father-in-law, Count Orazio Falier, finally talk honestly and the class barriers between them tumble.
The Count: 'I care that these things happen, that we poison ourselves and our progeny, that we knowingly destroy our future, but I do not believe that there is anything -- and I repeat, anything -- that can be done to prevent it. We are a nation of egoists. It is our glory, but it will be our destruction, for none of us can be made to concern ourselves about something as abstract as "the common good." The best of us can rise to feeling concern for our families, but as a nation, we are incapable of more.'
Of course Brunetti doesn't believe this, and neither does Paola, as Orazio acknowledges: "That is perhaps the finest thing I have achieved in my life, that my daughter does not share my beliefs."
Yet "Brunetti took his rage home with him, and it sat between him and his family as he ate." It is only satisfied by the rage of another, more powerful, it turns out, than the Count with his millions and his contacts in high places. But no spoilers...
October 20, 2025
Brunetti's cases continue and we meet Lorenzo Vianello, who will be Brunetti's delightful sidekick in many books to come. We also get a look at the US presence in Italy, with its Little America, complete with Burger King and Baskin Robbins, smack in the heart of Italy. Sad really.
May 4, 2022
Chilling. Wonderfully atmospheric. Makes me think I’d never wander the streets of Venice at night alone.
Beautifully-crafted story. Really drives home how helpless good people in government can be.
Beautifully-crafted story. Really drives home how helpless good people in government can be.
April 24, 2021
I liked how she found justice for the unresolvable. But I look forward to a long series in which the larger crimes are addressed .
December 18, 2021
Slecht geschreven i do not care for it
September 20, 2024
My second consecutive Brunetti mystery - I once again enjoyed it but this time the ending left my unsatisfied. These mysteries are a slow burn that I really enjoy as a change of pace from the usual mystery genre where too much action makes many stories unrealistic. However the end of this story leaves too may loose ends and it almost felt like another chapter or two would have brought a better conclusion. With that said, I also understand the choice by the author to leave it as it was and in some ways it might be more realistic to what would happen in real life. Either way, I will continue the series for sure.
Read
February 26, 2023Ooh- i was positively surprised by this.
This was my first novel of the [ #Commissario Brunetti ] series,,
but I can already confirm that I absolutely *adore* Donna Leon‘s style of writing and wording (!!)
,,And to be fair! ;
I do not praise books often,,
since I tend to be quite a picky reader,
not picky as in terms of difficulties choosing,
but rather as in *exclusive, exquisite taste*. [lol]
The ending was a little bit disappointing for me,
but nevertheless,, the whole storyline, the plot made totally up for it!
I did not mind the slow pacing,
actually the opposite: I quite enjoyed it (!)
So I‘m excited to pick up and continue this series soon~ [very refreshing, thank you donna.]
This was my first novel of the [ #Commissario Brunetti ] series,,
but I can already confirm that I absolutely *adore* Donna Leon‘s style of writing and wording (!!)
,,And to be fair! ;
I do not praise books often,,
since I tend to be quite a picky reader,
not picky as in terms of difficulties choosing,
but rather as in *exclusive, exquisite taste*. [lol]
The ending was a little bit disappointing for me,
but nevertheless,, the whole storyline, the plot made totally up for it!
I did not mind the slow pacing,
actually the opposite: I quite enjoyed it (!)
So I‘m excited to pick up and continue this series soon~ [very refreshing, thank you donna.]
January 9, 2008
DEATH IN A STRANGE COUNTRY (Police Proced-Guido Brunetti-Italy-Cont) – G
Leon, Donna – 2nd in series
A Penguin/Grove Press Book, 1995, UK Paperback – ISBN: 0143034820
First Sentence: A body floated face down in the murky water of the canal.
*** At first, it appears to be a mugging gone wrong. But the knifed body of a young man found floating in the canal turns out to be an American soldier in the Office of Public Hearth from the American base in Vincenza. It soon becomes clear to Comm. Guide Brunetti that more is going on than it first seemed. Brunetti finds cocaine planted in the soldier’s apartment and his commanding officer, and lover, is found dead of a declared suicide. Not his only case; three priceless paintings have been stolen from the palazzo in Venice of a wealthy Milanese who is connected to the Mafia. Brunetti believes it was an insurance scam and thinks he knows one of the robbers involved. Proving it is something else.
*** Leon’s descriptions of Venice, and the surrealism to an Italian being on an American military base were wonderful. The interaction of Brunette with his family and fellow officers is so well done. The plot was intricate and well done but the ending was abrupt. I must say, however, the ending was appropriately unsatisfying and you felt Brunetti’s frustration. This wasn’t my favorite Leon but she is still a wonderful writer.
Leon, Donna – 2nd in series
A Penguin/Grove Press Book, 1995, UK Paperback – ISBN: 0143034820
First Sentence: A body floated face down in the murky water of the canal.
*** At first, it appears to be a mugging gone wrong. But the knifed body of a young man found floating in the canal turns out to be an American soldier in the Office of Public Hearth from the American base in Vincenza. It soon becomes clear to Comm. Guide Brunetti that more is going on than it first seemed. Brunetti finds cocaine planted in the soldier’s apartment and his commanding officer, and lover, is found dead of a declared suicide. Not his only case; three priceless paintings have been stolen from the palazzo in Venice of a wealthy Milanese who is connected to the Mafia. Brunetti believes it was an insurance scam and thinks he knows one of the robbers involved. Proving it is something else.
*** Leon’s descriptions of Venice, and the surrealism to an Italian being on an American military base were wonderful. The interaction of Brunette with his family and fellow officers is so well done. The plot was intricate and well done but the ending was abrupt. I must say, however, the ending was appropriately unsatisfying and you felt Brunetti’s frustration. This wasn’t my favorite Leon but she is still a wonderful writer.
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